Simple Acceptance
by Lady Black Mage
Summary: When the Titans East visit the Justice League Watchtower, Green Arrow pulls Aqualad aside for a talk. Garth isn't keen on this, not after what Roy's told him about his former mentor, but what is it that the archer wants with the young Atlantean? (Drabble, written as a gift for a friend, mentions of SpeedyxAqualad shipping.)


**A/N: Written as a little gift for my dear girl, embrace-your-inner-dork, as she's a SpAqua shipper, and while I recently discovered a growing fondness for Oliver Queen, she fell in love with Roy Harper. Some headcanons factor into this, and as usual, I don't own any of these characters or any other DC elements. It should be noted I wanted this to be based off of the "Justice League"/"Justice League Unlimited" cartoons crossed over with the "Teen Titans" cartoon, but there was no option for JL/JLU in the cartoon category, so I threw this in the comics section as a catch-all.**

* * *

><p>"Hey, Artie. Is it okay with you if I steal the kid for a minute?"<p>

Garth and his mentor-king, Arthur, looked up as a man clad in green approached them, a quiver full of arrows and a longbow slung over one shoulder lazily. The young Atlantean drew in a sharp breath, tensing his muscles at the sight of Green Arrow. Personally he had had very little interaction with the man, but predisposed ideas based upon things he knew lended to a desire to have no interaction with him at all. Desperately, he hoped that his king would deny the man the opportunity to speak with him.

"Of course." Aquaman said with a nod, and before Garth could protest, he was being steered away by a tough grip on his arm. Inwardly, he cursed, pinning down the whole thing to beards. That had to be it; his king and the archer both had magnificent blonde beards, and were probably accustomed agreeing on things due to some stupid, brainless thing that had to do with their beards.

It was a highly unlikely possibility, but the young sidekick allowed it to preoccupy his thoughts. It was better than thinking on why in the world Green Arrow wanted to talk to him, of all people. Though on some level, Garth thought he knew why.

He had seen the way Roy had reacted when the older archer approached him. The momentary fear, the tension... the pain that had sparked to life in Roy's eyes. He hadn't been able to catch everything that was said, but it hadn't taken long before the conversation between the former mentor and ex-sidekick had gotten heated and Roy had stormed off.

If Green Arrow was hoping to get through to Roy via Garth, he had another thing coming. The young Atlantean had heard enough about how the archer had ignored Roy, had forgotten and abandoned him... how he had reacted to finding his ward taking heroin. And it was enough to make him wary, if not downright defensively angry and overprotective.

The older man dragged him off to a side hall, one less occupied, before coming to a stop and spinning to face him, his expression guarded behind the green mask.

"Sorry about that." He said in a quiet voice. "Garth, isn't it?"

"Tch. Save your apologies." He spat back coldly. "I'm not interested in hearing it."

"Got quite the mouth on you, huh?"

"What's it to you?"

"Yeesh, calm down, fishscales." Green Arrow held up his palms, giving him a skeptical look. "I'm just making an observation."

"Sure, whatever." Garth snorted, crossing his arms. "Why don't you cut to the chase and get it over with? I know why you really want to talk to me."

His eyes widened behind the mask, surprised for a moment, before he smiled slowly, quietly amused. "_Really_?" He prompted, clearly savoring the moment. It only served to prickle Garth's anger further.

"Yeah," he snapped, "This is about Roy. Don't think for a second that you can lie to me about it, either. What do you want, anyway? I'm not playing messenger boy to anyone, and even so, I'm not going to be a go-between for you two. He's told me about the crap you've put him through, and I'm not going to help you make it any worse!"

Those eyes widened again, but this time, something in the archer's face softened considerably. He lowered his hands, looking abruptly taken aback and somewhat defeated.

"I wasn't going to ask you to." He said quietly.

"Good, because I wouldn't help you either way." Garth snapped, turning on his heel and starting to stalk off, feeling thoroughly wound up and more than a little vindicated.

"I'm not stupid, kid. _I KNOW_."

The words hit with the force of a torpedo. He stumbled a moment as his heart fluttered and the heat crept into his cheeks.

No, there was no way. He couldn't be serious; Green Arrow had to be bluffing. After all, Roy would never tell him, so how in the name of Atlantis would the archer find out?

"I know." The older man repeated, gentler this time. "You think I got very far shooting a bow without learning how to be observant? I've seen the way you look at Roy, and the difference in him that you bring about, just by being there."

A tremulous shiver ran down Garth's spine. So he _did_ know.

"S-so?" He said, slowly turning back to face him, trying to sound braver than he actually felt. He had faced Brother Blood, had fought Trident, had competed in the Tournament of Heroes. So why in the world were none of them as terrifying as standing here, before this simple human man, and owning up to the fact he was in a relationship with his ex-sidekick? "Why does it matter to you, anyway? It's not like you actually give a crap about R—"

The wind was knocked out of him as a pair of strong arms embraced him tightly, and he froze, utterly stunned.

"Thank you."

Oliver Queen spoke in the faintest of whispers, but the sincerity of his voice was unmistakable. Shaken, Garth stammered out a query.

"Why?" Came the echo back. "Because you make Roy happy, that's why. I don't think I've ever seen him look so _alive_ since he—since I drove him away."

Garth didn't have a response for that. It was probably true, but he wasn't entirely able to confirm it either way. Still, something in Green Arrow's words bolstered him, warmed him from the inside out.

"So... you don't care about... about us being... a, um...?"

"Kid, you're making Roy happy. And if you'll do a spoiled rich guy a favor?" He pulled back, tears staining his cheeks below his mask as he offered Aqualad a sheepish smile. "Please keep doing whatever it is you're doing. Just be there for my little brother, okay? That's all I'm asking you."

Garth remained rooted to the spot, at an utter loss for words and still shell-shocked long after Oliver had walked away.


End file.
